Tag: censorship

After protests broke out over a sharp fuel price hike this week, Zimbabwe’s government ordered a three-day internet shutdown — with police also firing tear gas at demonstrators from a helicopter and arresting dozens. According to NetBlocks, which estimates the cost of internet shutdowns worldwide, the three-day outage could cost the country’s already shaky economy …

A new report out this week shows that China is by far the most effective censor of the internet, and far from retreating, is exporting its model around the world. Beijing has consistently defied all the confident predictions (including by people far more knowledgeable about the internet than Clinton) that this would be impossible. China’s …

Uganda’s parliament has passed a law to impose a controversial tax on people using social media platforms. The new Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill will also impose various other taxes, including a 1% levy on the total value of mobile money transactions – which civil society groups complain will affect poorer Ugandans who rarely use banking …

Paris, April 5, 2018: Internet Without Borders is alarmed by the current shutdown of social media platforms and messaging services including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber and important news website such as BBC, in Chad. This new case of censorship comes just a few days after Internet Without Borders and partners submitted a report to the UN Human …

As protests over economic instability and government censorship persist in Iran, the Hassan Rouhani government has reportedly wielded its favorite suppression tactic: blocking the internet. Multiple reports say the government was blocking internet on mobile networks starting on Dec. 30, including social media services like Instagram and messaging services like Telegram, to try and stop …

Indian authorities should cease arbitrary restrictions of the country’s internet and telecommunications networks, Human Rights Watch said today. State governments have imposed 20 internet shutdowns so far in 2017, including by four states in June. Shutdowns in response to campaigns on social media and mobile mass messaging applications spreading false and even incendiary information have …

Thailand’s military government is pushing ahead with several bills to tighten cyber security, but many critics say the move could result in increased online surveillance, raising concerns over personal privacy. Wednesday’s parliamentary public hearing on the amendment of the Computer Crime Act received mixed responses. Some expressed concern over the law’s vague definition of what …

The the US government through the assistant commerce secretary Larry Strickling and state department ambassador Daniel Sepulveda have warned that Chinese government could fragment the internet if it pursues new registration rules for online addresses. The warning is in response to a decision by the Chinese government in late March to require all domain names …

According to a south African’ internet blog, The Draft Online Regulation Policy proposed by the Film and Publication Board (FPB) is far-reaching and absolute in its censorship, with little clarity on practical implementation. This is according to commentators on a recent Carte Blanche insert about the Internet censorship which will accompany the bill. The …

Recent references to the dangers of “Internet balkanization” are all over the media. The term has been used to describe a variety of regulatory alternatives being considered or adopted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Brazil, Russia, India, China, Iran, Turkey, Europe and others. The diversity of the group suggests they cannot be doing …